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Surinder Singh, the U Mumba captain for Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9, is anticipating the next auction, which will take place on October 9 as well as 10 in Mumbai.

Last year, Surinder had missed a few matches due to an injury, which caused U Mumba’s successful season to falter. Surinder will seek to win the championship back for U Mumba, though, with a fresh group of players and more enthusiasm.

Surinder Singh talked about being affiliated with the franchise as well as the new coaches in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda. He also talked about his auction wish list and the likely team lineup.

First up, the skipper spoke about the Mumbai crowd and how he had told his players about the Mumbai crowd. He said, “I told them that we get motivated there. We had plenty of crowd support in Pune too, but I told the guys that the support we are getting here is 40 percent of what we get in Mumbai. They also wanted to play here. I am very happy that we will get to play at home.”

Surinder then discusses the excitement to work with Jeeva Kumar, who is joining the team once again as a defence coach. He said, “My head is spinning with questions for him. He is one of the best cover defenders of all time. Although short in height, he has tackled some big raiders. His timing is immaculate. I have always wanted to learn timing from him. I will work on it definitely with him. I am a big fan of him and when he will teach us, it will be very beneficial for us.”

Lastly, the U Mumba superstar captain discussed the team’s retentions ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League auctions. He said, “When we had the trials in Mumbai, there was a plethora of talented players. Our coaches and CEO had personally come there. It was very difficult to select. There was hardly any difference between the players – all of them were very talented. We had to think a lot and after taking multiple trials, we selected four players.”